Adult subjects returning to school: meanings and tensions within proeja

ABSTRACT:

This paper results from an inventory made at 18 schools in the city and the metropolitan area of Curitiba (PR) that offer evening secondary school. The analysis included 73 students from Programa Nacional de Integração da Educação Profissional com a Educação Básica na Modalidade de Educação de Jovens e Adultos (PROEJA). The research problem was based on the identification of a severe dropout rate in the last stage of basic education which gets worse in PROEJA. The obtained data made it possible to establish students’ profile in relation to age, gender, ethnicity and monthly income as well as highlight the reasons that led students to return to school, what motivated them to stay at school or discourage them from studying, and the reasons that led them not to drop out. Given the outlined context, efforts were made to find an approach of the aspects that may lead students either to drop out or remain at school based on the subjects’ statements.

Keywords:
PROEJA; Secondary technical school; Retention and dropout; Secondary school